Kumble becomes chairman of the NCA

Anil Kumble on Wednesday was appointed the chairman of the National Cricket Academy by the BCCI.

"Kumble is an excellent cricketer. He has the knowledge of the game and is Bangalore-based. So he can look after the academy very well," BCCI president Shashank Manohar said on the decision taken at the annual general meeting.

"The Board has purchased about 50 acres of land in Bangalore where the Board is developing its academy. According to all of us, Kumble is the best choice for that post," Manohar said.

When asked about his commintments when playing for IPL, Manohar replied "He does not work for 365 days for the Bangalore franchise, neither will he work for 365 days for the NCA. We have a director in Sandeep Patil to look after

Kumble on replacing Ravi Shastri, said "The way I see it, it's an opportunity to put together a structure that will help in the development of young cricketers," "The role of the NCA is not just to churn out cricketers, but to churn out really good personalities and well-rounded individuals.

"This is not something that will happen in a year or two. It's a continuous process for various sets of cricketers, right from the youngsters who are in the NCA to those who come back to it at different stages."

The position will help Kumble pursue his ambition of guiding India's young cricketing talent.

"It will help that I'm still involved in that many of the youngsters around would have played either with me or against me. It will help that they have some sort of comfort level with me and that they can approach me if they need something," Kumble said.

"There must be a pipeline in place for a fresh talent pool to emerge, but we must also make sure the present talent pool remains focussed, motivated and in the best physical and mental shape to keep delivering for the country," he said.